Dorothy Collins Espach of Sag Harbor died on December 2 at her home after a two-and-a-half-year battle with ischemic cerebral vascular disease. A former teacher at Sag Harbor Elementary School, she was 78.
Born on May 6, 1930, in Lynbrook to Helen (née Stenman) and W. Russell Collins, she graduated in 1952 from Hofstra University in Hempstead with a bachelor’s degree in education. While attending the university, she met Robert Espach, whom she married on August 15, 1954.
She first taught at Oceanside Public Schools in Oceanside, then at Southampton Public Schools until 1958, when she gave birth to her son, Steven Russell Espach. In 1965 she went back to work, this time in Sag Harbor Public Schools, retiring in 1986.
In her retirement she took a job as an arts and crafts instructor on various cruise lines, including Celebrity and Princess cruise lines. With her husband by her side, she toured the Caribbean, traveled through the Panama Canal several times, and cruised the waters of the Mexican Riviera, the South Pacific, Australia and Alaska.
“She was a great cook, a seamstress of great skill and teacher who loved the kids she taught and they loved her,” Mr. Espach said this week.
In addition to her husband of 54 years, Robert Espach of Sag Harbor, she is survived by her son, Steven and his wife Jennifer Wood of Massachusetts.
A funeral service was held on December 5 at the First Presbyterian Church of Sag Harbor, with the Reverend James Cardone officiating. Interment followed at Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor.
In lieu of flowers, donations to The Retreat, 13 Goodfriend Drive, East Hampton, NY 11937 or East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978 would be appreciated by the family.
on Jan 28, 2009